A Day of Walking
My feet hurt. After a late morning start out the door, Gord, Jan, and I did a good day of walking. From our hotel, we walked down a few main streets, and came to a silk market. Some silk was bought, some money spent. Then we tried to find a tea market, but were unsuccessful, and before we knew it, we had to head to another hotel to meet Herrick (from our distributor's office) for lunch. We had a great lunch, with included more duck tongue, and were back out on the street in search for tea. Finally, we found a strip of stores that all sold tea, and we charged into the one right in front of us. Some tea was bought, some money spent.
From there, we grabbed a taxi to the Southwest corner of West Lake and walked around the new development area; then journeyed across a path that cut through the South end of West Lake, with short segments of land and 6 short bridges. The wind was strong, the air cold, and the waters were scattered with row boats operated by certain companies. The path took about 1.5 hours to traverse, and the feet were complaining. After looking at a few last shops, we taxied back to the hotel. During this ride, I actually saw a cyclist get hit by a taxi and his bike crushed. I knew it would happen SOME time. Fortunately, the biker seemed alright, and the taxi driver actually seemed concerned.
Gord and Jan decided to take a break, while I immediately headed back out to a CD/VCD/DVD store we had been to the day before. Some DVDs were bought, some money spent. After I returned, we went to dinner in a restaurant at the hotel because I couldn't put my feet through any more than the traumatization it had already been subjected to over the last 8 hours.
Back in my room, calling it a night.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where bargaining is more for sport than real deals, people push to get around you, any kind of food can be cooked 5 ways you've never seen... even if you had just learned another 5 ways of cooking it, people sing in public as they're doing their own thing, and money is spent.
February 01, 2004
January 31, 2004
The Last Day of Work
Arrived at our customer site at 9am and spend much of our time travelling between their two sites. Work was swift and partially productive. The meetings were inconclusive, but short. Lunch consisted of dishes with pig intestine, pig heart, pig liver, water snakes, fish, bambo, green beans, another green leafed veggie, and rice. Overall, not too bad.
After only 2 days here in Hangzhou, I believe we accomplished the work we had hoped to. That means the rest of our time is free to wander.
Jan ended up staying in Shanghai for the night, but made it here in one piece today. After work, the three of us went to a mall in the area and found a food court to have dinner at. Food courts in China are above and beyond those in Canada, if you like Chinese food. There's a vast variety of foods, and all at a very affordable price -- by our standards anyway.
Then we walked around a little in the city and returned to the hotel. A few drinks at the piano lounge later, we headed back to our rooms. We'll get out for a full day of tourism tomorrow.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where turtles can be seen cut in four in kitchens, the restaurant washrooms also have toothbrushes and toothpaste because the owners live there in the same building, the fake DVDs run around 7 RMB, and firecrackers are lit anywhere, everywhere, and at all hours of the day through the couple of weeks following Chinese New Year.
Arrived at our customer site at 9am and spend much of our time travelling between their two sites. Work was swift and partially productive. The meetings were inconclusive, but short. Lunch consisted of dishes with pig intestine, pig heart, pig liver, water snakes, fish, bambo, green beans, another green leafed veggie, and rice. Overall, not too bad.
After only 2 days here in Hangzhou, I believe we accomplished the work we had hoped to. That means the rest of our time is free to wander.
Jan ended up staying in Shanghai for the night, but made it here in one piece today. After work, the three of us went to a mall in the area and found a food court to have dinner at. Food courts in China are above and beyond those in Canada, if you like Chinese food. There's a vast variety of foods, and all at a very affordable price -- by our standards anyway.
Then we walked around a little in the city and returned to the hotel. A few drinks at the piano lounge later, we headed back to our rooms. We'll get out for a full day of tourism tomorrow.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where turtles can be seen cut in four in kitchens, the restaurant washrooms also have toothbrushes and toothpaste because the owners live there in the same building, the fake DVDs run around 7 RMB, and firecrackers are lit anywhere, everywhere, and at all hours of the day through the couple of weeks following Chinese New Year.
January 30, 2004
The Day Off
I woke up early today and thought I should check my email before going back to sleep, since I really didn't have to be anywhere in particular today. Unfortunately, emailing went a little long, with a slew of both work and personal emails to attend to, and I never got a chance to get back to sleep. Breakfast/brunch was had in the hotel, but we had missed the breakfast buffet. So I ordered an "Oriental" set breakfast, which was congee and some dumpling. Probably the worst congee I had ever had. No taste whatsoever.
After brunch, I had to wait an hour for Gord to get this stuff together as he was trying to figure out how his wife would get to Hangzhou from Shanghai. It was a logistic nightmare since there was no way for him to get a hold of her, and he didn't want to put her through the train ride of hell. Without much progress, he gave up for the time being.
We taxied down to West Lake, and rented bikes at 8 RMB/hr. For the next 3.5 hours, we took the bikes around the great lake and had a great time mixing in with the locals on their bikes. There's nothing more exhilerating than riding a bike in traffic with the crazy car drivers. West Lake offers some beautiful scenery, tainted only by the hazy low-hanging sky. One can only imagine how astonishing the view would be on a clear day. One reason for the haze is because we are still in the middle of New Year's celebrations, and the smoke from fireworks and firecrackers seem to suspend in the air. Nevertheless, the bike ride was a more-than-welcomed chance to see the famous historical lake and to be slightly active.
Thereafter, we got back to the hotel and met up with Chao Yang, one of our customer's engineers. He took us to a popular restaurant where you buy tickets that you spend like money on menu items. The tables are scattered much like a food court, and you would go to a long counter where food is prepared and placed for you to "buy" with the tickets. This was the reason I love coming to China. The food. There's nothing like having a local order authentic Chinese dishes. I enjoyed most of the items, but Gord wasn't as enthused (he was courageous enough to tried everything, but didn't like most items enough to take more than a bite).
Chao Yang then took us to a tea house, which are popular places in Hangzhou, which is famous for its teas. These tea houses are often larger than restaurants, and have booths where people can sit, drink tea, and talk with friends. With your order of tea, you can also enjoy a large variety of snacks free of charge. It's an interesting concept. Mind you, an order of tea (which consists of a glass with tea leaves and as many refills of water as wanted), runs between 55 RMB - 85 RMB, which converts to about $9 - $14 CDN -- so it's not overly cheap. But I enjoyed the experience. Chao Yang's girlfriend also joined us after she finished work at a travel agency. I also got to try duck tongue, which was a thin slab of meat that forked into two long points (go find a picture of a duck's tongue), marinated on a skewer. With a texture like jerky, it was actually pretty decent, once you block out the fact that it's a tongue. Apparently, it's quite expensive, given that most ducks only come with one tongue.
After close to 5 hours of dinner and sipping tea, Gord and I returned to our hotel, where I am now writing my update. Gord will be heading to the Hangzhou Railway Station shortly to pick up his wife, Jan. Hopefully she made it there alright.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where cold water stinks as well, kids begging often make more than adult workers, and sometimes the only way to cross the street is like Frogger.
I woke up early today and thought I should check my email before going back to sleep, since I really didn't have to be anywhere in particular today. Unfortunately, emailing went a little long, with a slew of both work and personal emails to attend to, and I never got a chance to get back to sleep. Breakfast/brunch was had in the hotel, but we had missed the breakfast buffet. So I ordered an "Oriental" set breakfast, which was congee and some dumpling. Probably the worst congee I had ever had. No taste whatsoever.
After brunch, I had to wait an hour for Gord to get this stuff together as he was trying to figure out how his wife would get to Hangzhou from Shanghai. It was a logistic nightmare since there was no way for him to get a hold of her, and he didn't want to put her through the train ride of hell. Without much progress, he gave up for the time being.
We taxied down to West Lake, and rented bikes at 8 RMB/hr. For the next 3.5 hours, we took the bikes around the great lake and had a great time mixing in with the locals on their bikes. There's nothing more exhilerating than riding a bike in traffic with the crazy car drivers. West Lake offers some beautiful scenery, tainted only by the hazy low-hanging sky. One can only imagine how astonishing the view would be on a clear day. One reason for the haze is because we are still in the middle of New Year's celebrations, and the smoke from fireworks and firecrackers seem to suspend in the air. Nevertheless, the bike ride was a more-than-welcomed chance to see the famous historical lake and to be slightly active.
Thereafter, we got back to the hotel and met up with Chao Yang, one of our customer's engineers. He took us to a popular restaurant where you buy tickets that you spend like money on menu items. The tables are scattered much like a food court, and you would go to a long counter where food is prepared and placed for you to "buy" with the tickets. This was the reason I love coming to China. The food. There's nothing like having a local order authentic Chinese dishes. I enjoyed most of the items, but Gord wasn't as enthused (he was courageous enough to tried everything, but didn't like most items enough to take more than a bite).
Chao Yang then took us to a tea house, which are popular places in Hangzhou, which is famous for its teas. These tea houses are often larger than restaurants, and have booths where people can sit, drink tea, and talk with friends. With your order of tea, you can also enjoy a large variety of snacks free of charge. It's an interesting concept. Mind you, an order of tea (which consists of a glass with tea leaves and as many refills of water as wanted), runs between 55 RMB - 85 RMB, which converts to about $9 - $14 CDN -- so it's not overly cheap. But I enjoyed the experience. Chao Yang's girlfriend also joined us after she finished work at a travel agency. I also got to try duck tongue, which was a thin slab of meat that forked into two long points (go find a picture of a duck's tongue), marinated on a skewer. With a texture like jerky, it was actually pretty decent, once you block out the fact that it's a tongue. Apparently, it's quite expensive, given that most ducks only come with one tongue.
After close to 5 hours of dinner and sipping tea, Gord and I returned to our hotel, where I am now writing my update. Gord will be heading to the Hangzhou Railway Station shortly to pick up his wife, Jan. Hopefully she made it there alright.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where cold water stinks as well, kids begging often make more than adult workers, and sometimes the only way to cross the street is like Frogger.
January 29, 2004
The First Day of Work
Woke up around 7:45am today and got through my email as I prepared to head out for the day. After an overly expensive breakfast buffet, Gord and I grabbed a cab to our client's office. Some areas of Hangzhou are subject to power outages (which seem to be power/cost savings measures), so we immediately went, with some of our customer's employees, to another nearby facility to do our work. The drive took about 20 minutes and brought us around the West side of West Lake (a large lake that Hangzhou is famous for). This second facility was a large warehouse that had no apparent central heating. At zero degrees C, this isn't wear you'd want to spend most days. I don't think I've worked a full day with my jacket on until now.
Lunch was army food in the cafeteria. A disappointing episode of hard chicken, overcooked veggies, tofu, and rice. The work day went smoothly, and we were back at the hotel by 4:30pm. A short break of emailing, and Gord and I headed out for a walk to West Lake, only about 1km away from the Radisson Hotel. By the time we got to the Lake, it was already dark. We walked slowly along, playing around with our digital cameras. We found a decent restaurant on the Northwest side of the Lake, relaxing for 2 hours while chatting about various subjects. Then we headed back to the hotel, where I am now. I've still got about an hour of work emailing to do, so I better head to Gord's room now to work on that. Overall, the day went by quickly and was fairly pleasant.
That and we get tomorrow off (due to the lack of any work needed to be done). Chances are, we're going to rent bikes to ride around West Lake tomorrow. We'll also meet up with one of our client's engineers who will show us around Hangzhou with his girlfriend. A generous offer considering he has no obligation to do so, and has chosen to on his weekend.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where the worst drivers are probably also the most skilled drivers, and warm tap water stinks like hell.
Woke up around 7:45am today and got through my email as I prepared to head out for the day. After an overly expensive breakfast buffet, Gord and I grabbed a cab to our client's office. Some areas of Hangzhou are subject to power outages (which seem to be power/cost savings measures), so we immediately went, with some of our customer's employees, to another nearby facility to do our work. The drive took about 20 minutes and brought us around the West side of West Lake (a large lake that Hangzhou is famous for). This second facility was a large warehouse that had no apparent central heating. At zero degrees C, this isn't wear you'd want to spend most days. I don't think I've worked a full day with my jacket on until now.
Lunch was army food in the cafeteria. A disappointing episode of hard chicken, overcooked veggies, tofu, and rice. The work day went smoothly, and we were back at the hotel by 4:30pm. A short break of emailing, and Gord and I headed out for a walk to West Lake, only about 1km away from the Radisson Hotel. By the time we got to the Lake, it was already dark. We walked slowly along, playing around with our digital cameras. We found a decent restaurant on the Northwest side of the Lake, relaxing for 2 hours while chatting about various subjects. Then we headed back to the hotel, where I am now. I've still got about an hour of work emailing to do, so I better head to Gord's room now to work on that. Overall, the day went by quickly and was fairly pleasant.
That and we get tomorrow off (due to the lack of any work needed to be done). Chances are, we're going to rent bikes to ride around West Lake tomorrow. We'll also meet up with one of our client's engineers who will show us around Hangzhou with his girlfriend. A generous offer considering he has no obligation to do so, and has chosen to on his weekend.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where the worst drivers are probably also the most skilled drivers, and warm tap water stinks like hell.
Arrived in Hangzhou
After a 12+ hr flight to Shanghai, a 1 hr bus to the train station, a 2 hr wait at the train station, a 2.5 hr train ride, and a short taxi ride to our hotel, Gord and I have arrived and are drained.
The flight was like any other flight with pushy Chinese people kicking your seat every 4 minutes. The bus ride was longer than expected. But it was the train ride from Shanghai to Hangzhou that took the cake for the worst part of the travel. The train was dirty; the "soft seats" were sold out, so we settled for the cramped "hard seats"; we were squished like sardines into a booth with 3 other Chinese; the light blue and red decor was awful; the people were pushy, even though the seats were pre-assigned; and my ass hurt after about 1.5 hrs on that leg of the journey.
It's funny traveling with a white man. Chinese people LOVE to stare at him. But they don't just look at him. Usually, they do a full-body up-and-down with the eyes. It kind of scares me. And then I speak English to him, and they all stare at me for a while before focusing their attention back at him.
I'm glad to be settled into my hotel. The Internet access works far better than at the hotel I stayed at in Shenzhen. This hotel, Radisson, is also a cut above the Holiday Inn (Shenzhen). They have fancy amenities like piping the audio from the TV to the washroom, and a walk-in shower that can easily fit 10 people semi-comfortably (not all of them would get water, of course)... that's on top of a bathtub.
After all the travel, and no proper dinner, I've ordered in some Room Service (Singapore noodles and satay pork) and pulled a drink out of the mini-bar. Big pimpin', I know. I know.
Tomorrow, the work starts.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where people can wear suits and still look like bums.
After a 12+ hr flight to Shanghai, a 1 hr bus to the train station, a 2 hr wait at the train station, a 2.5 hr train ride, and a short taxi ride to our hotel, Gord and I have arrived and are drained.
The flight was like any other flight with pushy Chinese people kicking your seat every 4 minutes. The bus ride was longer than expected. But it was the train ride from Shanghai to Hangzhou that took the cake for the worst part of the travel. The train was dirty; the "soft seats" were sold out, so we settled for the cramped "hard seats"; we were squished like sardines into a booth with 3 other Chinese; the light blue and red decor was awful; the people were pushy, even though the seats were pre-assigned; and my ass hurt after about 1.5 hrs on that leg of the journey.
It's funny traveling with a white man. Chinese people LOVE to stare at him. But they don't just look at him. Usually, they do a full-body up-and-down with the eyes. It kind of scares me. And then I speak English to him, and they all stare at me for a while before focusing their attention back at him.
I'm glad to be settled into my hotel. The Internet access works far better than at the hotel I stayed at in Shenzhen. This hotel, Radisson, is also a cut above the Holiday Inn (Shenzhen). They have fancy amenities like piping the audio from the TV to the washroom, and a walk-in shower that can easily fit 10 people semi-comfortably (not all of them would get water, of course)... that's on top of a bathtub.
After all the travel, and no proper dinner, I've ordered in some Room Service (Singapore noodles and satay pork) and pulled a drink out of the mini-bar. Big pimpin', I know. I know.
Tomorrow, the work starts.
Kevin, signing off from China... the place where people can wear suits and still look like bums.
January 28, 2004
January 27, 2004
You know when you sit down and watch TV for 5 hours, and when you finally get off your lazy butt, you realize how much you miss your brainwashing friend? Well, the new Riviera portable video player, coupled with the I-Glasses HRV Pro, is the answer to all your "do I HAVE to be active?" problems! Not only that, the I-Glasses are the next big thing is fashionable accessories. Wear it on the Skytrain, while doing laundry, and more!
January 25, 2004
It's confirmed! 2 weeks in China with the following itinerary:
Jan 27 leaving Vancouver on a 767
Jan 28 arriving in Shanghai, then taking a train to Hangzhou
Jan 29 - 30 working in Hangzhou
Jan 31 - Feb 1 playing in Hangzhou
Feb 2 - 3 working in Hangzhou, then training to Suzhou
Feb 4 playing in Suzhou, then training to Shanghai
Feb 5 - 9 playing in Shanghai
Feb 9 leaving Shanghai
Feb 9 arriving in Vancouver
Woohoo!
Jan 27 leaving Vancouver on a 767
Jan 28 arriving in Shanghai, then taking a train to Hangzhou
Jan 29 - 30 working in Hangzhou
Jan 31 - Feb 1 playing in Hangzhou
Feb 2 - 3 working in Hangzhou, then training to Suzhou
Feb 4 playing in Suzhou, then training to Shanghai
Feb 5 - 9 playing in Shanghai
Feb 9 leaving Shanghai
Feb 9 arriving in Vancouver
Woohoo!
The City of Vancouver has planted some new trees on my block. I'm not sure when it happened, as I rarely look out the front of the house, but eight new treelings have sprouted, increasing the end-to-end total from ten to 18. So long as they don't grow to block the view from our bay window, I'm okay with them. Otherwise, they will have to say hello to my little friend. BBBZZzzzzzzzz....
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